Immediate support
Immediate support

Depression

Depression affects people in Australia every day. Share your own story and learn about other member’s experiences with depression.

Start a discussion

FAQ

Find answers to some of the more frequently asked questions on the Forums.

View the FAQ

Forums guidelines

Our guidelines keep the Forums a safe place for people to share and learn information.

View the guidelines
Jump to
Start a discussion

Pinned discussions

Jeriava How do I talk to my doctor?
  • replies: 9

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really ... View more

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really scared that they’ll judge me or won’t believe anything I say. I’m really anti social so I feel like I won’t be able to say what I wanna say or I’ll say the wrong thing causing them to just dismiss me and move me along without helping. I’m just tired of feeling alone, depressed and just worthless but I’m really scared to talk to them.

Chris_B Are you looking to support someone else with depression? PLEASE READ before posting
  • replies: 0

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and f... View more

This forum is for people seeking support for their own mental health issues. If you're posting on behalf of someone else with a mental health issue that you're concerned about, please have a look at this section of our forums: Supporting family and friends with a mental health condition It's full of threads from people who have family members and friends going through anxiety, depression or other related conditions. Have a read through the threads there, and feel free to take part in the discussions. Below are also some helpful beyondblue resources you might want to look through first as well: Supporting someone Have the conversation

AGrace SELF HELP TIPS FOR MANAGING DEPRESSION
  • replies: 132

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the ... View more

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the 5 senses Distress Tolerance – Accepting Emotions and Self Soothing Distraction – Put the thoughts/feelings aside and come back to them when you are ready to deal with them Positive Affirmations – Have some affirmations written down repeat them to yourself daily Sleep/Exercise/Diet – All 3 aspects of our lifestyle can impact the way we think/feel Increasing Pleasurable Activities – Engage in at least one pleasurable activity per day

All discussions

Start a discussion

Jay bird Really scared and alone
  • replies: 2

I am 45, 5 kids who are now all older and 3 have moved out….I rarely hear from them unless they want something and I reach out and it goes ignored. I thought I was a good mum. Now I feel lost and rejected.I have other family too who I am simply invis... View more

I am 45, 5 kids who are now all older and 3 have moved out….I rarely hear from them unless they want something and I reach out and it goes ignored. I thought I was a good mum. Now I feel lost and rejected.I have other family too who I am simply invisible to and I have reached a point now I am done.I want to disappear…I feel so hurt and I can’t tell anyone this because that’s manipulative and they don’t need to listen to my bullshit.how do I live a life when everyone around you allows you to be nothing?I don’t know what to do, how to escape this feeling…i have absolutely no one I would tell how Iam feeling so I pretend each day. I am about to break. Inside i already am

KellyEFL PostNatal Depression
  • replies: 5

Hi all, I have a 9 week old baby and have finally accepted that I’m suffering with post natal depression Ive had a pretty direct conversation with my husband this morning as it’s having a hugely negative impact on him, our baby and our overall relati... View more

Hi all, I have a 9 week old baby and have finally accepted that I’m suffering with post natal depression Ive had a pretty direct conversation with my husband this morning as it’s having a hugely negative impact on him, our baby and our overall relationship I was diagnosed this week and have a history of depression and anxiety so hasn’t really come as a shock but I’ve still had trouble accepting it I don’t want to feel like this and fully acknowledge the illness I need to take first steps and have a doctors appointment tomorrow where I am going to ask to be medicated, in addition, I have a number to call to make a counselling appointment Im desperate to fix myself and mend my strained relationship. Terrified of losing my husband please any tips would be much appreciated I know it’s not a quick fix but anything that will potentially help I am game to try

Baileysmells Don’t know what to do
  • replies: 8

Just got prescribed yet another medication and now I take 4 a day. I’m so close to running out of energy, nothing seems to actually improve. All I experience now is loneliness and emptiness, I just wish I could be who I wanted to be without anxiety g... View more

Just got prescribed yet another medication and now I take 4 a day. I’m so close to running out of energy, nothing seems to actually improve. All I experience now is loneliness and emptiness, I just wish I could be who I wanted to be without anxiety getting in the way. Instead I stay home and smoke while I feel sorry about myself. i just struggle so much to see a reason to fight through life, I wish there were an easy way out. I feel betrayed to have been born.

javalava13 Cycles of lashing out and immense guilt
  • replies: 3

Something I've always struggled with through my life (for a while at least - I'm 24 now) is constant cycles of lashing out at someone or saying something that comes across a bit strong to someone when they do something that upsets me and then feeling... View more

Something I've always struggled with through my life (for a while at least - I'm 24 now) is constant cycles of lashing out at someone or saying something that comes across a bit strong to someone when they do something that upsets me and then feeling incredible guilt and beating myself up so much for it. this repeats (maybe because i hate myself and am so mean to myself so i self-sabotage all my relationships) and i just feel so stuck in this cycle. I know this sounds natural and like i should feel guilty for being mean to anyone (and this is also what i think because it makes me hate myself even more everytime i am remotely mean to anyone) but for some reason i just can't control myself in the moment. I also think the house i live in is with very sensitive people (including myself) so what i consider as a huge lash out is definitely something that others may just consider a comment or point of discussion but because of (probably) a combination of the reaction i get and the criticism of myself to be this 100% perfectly nice, non-conflict person all the time, i beat myself up. I didn't actually know which topic to put this post in because I never know which of my actions or behaviours are from my anxiety and which are from my depression (and which may be from undiagnosed/other issues). i have sometimes thought just considering how much of a different person i feel like i am in these two states of mind (lashing out vs guilty) that i could have something like multiple personality disorder. but i just i guess wanted to hear if anyone else has these feelings or if this guilt would actually go away if i was a genuinely nice person and maybe THAT's the actual issue - that i truly am awful to people around me and the guilt is deserved. i really struggle with this concept of being a good person. i have SUCH a strong inner critic that is constantly hating me (which i know is a very common issue) and i just never know whether to/how much to actually believe this critic because i am genuinely a bad person and how much to go against it. and i know being a good person is probably quite a normal concern for people to have but the amount of hesitation I had to bring this up in case it then made people believe i am a terrible person makes me think i truly am because maybe i'm scared to hear the truth?

rhombusslope I need a release!
  • replies: 12

Hi, I have been feeling depressed and I’m not sure who to talk to. I was in therapy for 5 years but haven’t been for about 3 years. Felt everything was good and healthy for such a long time, but started to dip back into depressive thoughts about 2 mo... View more

Hi, I have been feeling depressed and I’m not sure who to talk to. I was in therapy for 5 years but haven’t been for about 3 years. Felt everything was good and healthy for such a long time, but started to dip back into depressive thoughts about 2 months ago. I’ve become mean and irritable at work, which makes me feel worse and more anxious. I hate complaining because, on paper, my life is good. I’ve stopped talking to my friends, and when they reach out, I act bored and uninterested which isn’t a great incentive for them to keep wanting to talk to me. I seem to purposefully isolate myself which makes me angrier and more depressed. I feel like my lack of social skills and low energy and impatience with other humans is a curse - how can I navigate through work and my goals if I can’t face others without feeling like I’m being awful and rude? Sometimes I feel like having introverted traits isn’t adaptive in our society, where the focus is on friends and connections and talking and laughing. I find conversation hard, and if I’m not being entertaining, no one seems to have an interest in me. I’m about to turn 30 and all my friends are single and still seem to be having fun. I’ve got a lovely partner, and just bought a house, but it feels like this made everything worse and none of myfriends seem to have much in common with me anymore (ie, not going out, having to penny pinch, doing renovations and working extra hours). I’m not sure what I need but would be nice to hear from others transitioning from 20s to 30s or older people who’ve been through this already. Right now, it seems like life is all work and no fun!

Niqko S.O.S. (You're Not Alone)
  • replies: 4

A song I wrote to help lift your spirits can be found here :- https://youtu.be/ysmGAn_ufuA (link no longer active) Hang on in there champs.

A song I wrote to help lift your spirits can be found here :- https://youtu.be/ysmGAn_ufuA (link no longer active) Hang on in there champs.

Waffle- Anyone else watching "Old People's Home For Teenagers"?
  • replies: 5

There's a show on ABC/iview about old people and teenagers doing activities together and getting to know each other. It has a heavy emphasis on loneliness and how that affects both age groups. I'm not elderly or a teenager, but watching the show has ... View more

There's a show on ABC/iview about old people and teenagers doing activities together and getting to know each other. It has a heavy emphasis on loneliness and how that affects both age groups. I'm not elderly or a teenager, but watching the show has had a big impact on me. I've only watched the first 2 episodes but both of them made me cry. I relate to the struggles of the participants and it's made me reflect on my own feelings of isolation. Is anyone else watching the show? I'd be really interested to hear other people's thoughts on it. (I wasn't sure where to post this, so I apologize if this is in the wrong place. Feels too heavy for the social section and too lighthearted for the depression section...)

Distractedbug Incongruence
  • replies: 5

Hi Everyone,I'm just wondering if anyone else has the same experience as I do in that sometimes I feel so bad about being angry that my kids aren't listening to me, or if I can't do something even when I'm trying my hardest, that I feel like they, al... View more

Hi Everyone,I'm just wondering if anyone else has the same experience as I do in that sometimes I feel so bad about being angry that my kids aren't listening to me, or if I can't do something even when I'm trying my hardest, that I feel like they, along with my wife would be better off without me. It's like as if that one bad part about me is so bad that the rest of me becomes worthless. I can't see any value in the other parts. It feels so intense in the moment.

123cats It’s hit me from nowhere
  • replies: 11

Hi AllFirst time posting. Having a bad time at the moment. I have had major depression 25 years ago and have been on medication all these years ... during those years I’ve had some small blips here and there and a couple of bad times with anxiety tha... View more

Hi AllFirst time posting. Having a bad time at the moment. I have had major depression 25 years ago and have been on medication all these years ... during those years I’ve had some small blips here and there and a couple of bad times with anxiety that were eventually rectified with a med increase. Anyhow a couple of weeks ago I had two days out of the blue of quite profound depression and then it lifted but the last 3 days it’s back ... it’s come on quickly and not mildly but pretty bad with intrusive thoughts, waves of anxiety and this terrible feeling of wanting to cry but can’t ifykwim ... it’s awful and distressing. I’ve dropped everything (I work for myself) and pretty much just pushed through getting the basics covered. I’m so scared as havnt felt like this bad for years. I have no idea why this is happening ... maybe the medication is pooping out . All I can think to do is just try and get through the weekend and call my Psych on Monday and try and get an appointment (usually takes weeks to get in) I just really needed to share what’s going on with me to someone somewhere and this is where I landed.

Thermo Need to get some burdens off my chest
  • replies: 5

Hi to anyone who reads this. This is my first time using any support websites, so I’m a little unsure of what I should do. I just don’t feel like I have any other options at this point. It’s been about a year and a half since I got out of a toxic rel... View more

Hi to anyone who reads this. This is my first time using any support websites, so I’m a little unsure of what I should do. I just don’t feel like I have any other options at this point. It’s been about a year and a half since I got out of a toxic relationship, I was essentially blackmailed into it. Long story short I’ve not had much experience with women or relationships, so I was taken completely by surprise when someone from my friend group confessed a romantic interest in me, though it wasn’t mutual, after trying to let them down gently they began to threaten to harm themselves. After talking to someone who I used to believe was my best friend about it they said it was my fault for not accepting. I felt I had no choice and agreed to try going out with her. In the end I spent over half a year of them insulting me or ignoring me after falsely claiming I had been disloyal, then threatening to end their own life “because of me” I didn’t know what to do. I’m still relatively young and inexperienced so I was terrified by the idea that I could be held responsible for someone’s life and death. I now realise this was not the case and what I was lead to believe. Ultimately I broke up with them after spending months to build up the courage. Since we were in the same friend group I was gradually phased out, after she claimed I had dumped them for no reason. Most of the people in our group knew how she treated me and threatened me but still ignored me and insulted me until I decided it would be better to be left alone. To this day I’ve never had the chance to tell my side of the story, because I know it’s a small town and my few friends I’ve made in the past couple of years might feel pressured to choose sides, and I don’t want that for anyone. I just wish it felt like any of my problems were heard, or that there was someone out there who cared about the way these things impact me. It feels selfish of me to even write this on the internet. No matter what I do I can’t help but feel my situation isn’t as bad as other people’s, it feels like all I’m asking for is people’s pity because that what I grew used to being told anytime I would ask for help. From my mother, and from people I thought of as my closest friends, for years. I feel like even though I’m nearly able to physically move away from all of this it will continue to haunt me for years to come. As a young man, I fear that I’ll spend the rest of my life feeling isolated just like I do now.